Love on a Dirt Road
by camaros-and-dopplegangers
Summary: Elena, running from her past, meets Tyler at a gas station. The two form a quick friendship but will Elena be able to let her guard down long enough for it to become something more? AU/AH


**A/N: I know I shouldn't be starting this story when I still have "I Remember You" that needs to be written...but for some reasons, I cannot get the Tyler/Elena paring out of my head. So you'll just have to deal with it! This is completely A/U (meaning no vamps, werewolves, hybrids...****etc****). Tyler is from a small town in Tennessee and ****Elena**** is there starting a new life for herself. Inspiration taken from the song "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line. I own NOTHING.****Xoxo**

_"Baby you a song_  
_You make me__wanna__roll my windows down and cruise_  
_Down a back road__blowin__' stop signs through the middle_  
_Every little farm town with you_  
_In this brand new Chevy with a lift kit_  
_Would look a hell of a lot better with you up in it_  
_So baby you a song_  
_You make me__wanna__roll my windows down and cruise" -_Cruise

Chapter One

Speeding down a winding road with dust clouds forming behind her, Elena finally felt a sense of freedom from her old life. While Elena's old life wasn't a complete nightmare, she didn't have the completely charmed life everyone thought she did. While Elena acknowledged her mom and dad were loving and attentive, and she and her brother fought like cats and dogs with each other but had each other's backs when it counted; her old life wasn't the sunshine and daises everyone thought it was. At nineteen almost twenty years old, Elena found herself smiling and feeling like she was beginning to live the way she wanted to, and not just do what was expected of her.

Elena thought back on the past few months and what had happened to make her decide that fleeing Virginia was the best thing that she could do for her mental, and physical, health. From the constant fights with her friends, to being betrayed by the _one person_that she thought would always be there for her; a lot had happened to her in a short period of time to make her question her sanity.

Having no destination in mind, Elena decided to just drive until she had to stop for gas or food, whichever came first. Hearing a quiet dinging noise alerting her to the fact that she only had twenty miles until her tank hit empty Elena pulled into the first gas station she saw. Killing the engine, Elena got out of her car and stretched out her sore muscles. Taking in her surroundings, Elena first noticed the lack of other vehicles, then the fact that except for the main stretch of road she was just on, all the streets were dirt. _Where the hell did I end up,_ Elena wondered to herself. Walking over to the gas pump, Elena pulled out her trusty credit card only to find that the gas pump was so old that it didn't accept plastic. "Well, that's just great. No gas, no cash and I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere. Where the hell am I anyways?" Elena muttered to herself, pulling out her iPhone praying she had reception.

"Need anything miss?" A deep southern voice called from the doorway of the general store attached to the gas station.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Elena turned around to face the store and was floored at the handsome man casually leaning against the doorway. Never did she think that a man wearing a grease-stained white t-shirt, destroyed jeans and black boots could look so good. From the clothes, to the tan skin, the dark hair and eyes and random grease smudges on his handsome face; Elena could feel herself drooling a little. "I need gas and some directions to the nearest hotel. But, you guys don't take credit and I don't have any cash on me. Do you have an ATM I could use," Elena asked, biting her lip nervously, because she really did not want to be stuck in this town any longer than she had to be.

"No, there's no ATM here," the man responded.

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do? I can't exactly walk for the rest of my life, now can I?" Elena snipped at the stranger, hungry and frustrated at her situation. She had been so worried about getting out of dodge that she didn't think to actually take money out of her account in case of emergencies like this.

"Well ma'am, you could always hang around for a few more minutes, let me close up and I could drive you to the grocery store where they _do_ have an ATM that you can use."

"Really, you'd do that for me? You don't even know me, and I don't know you. How do I know you're not some axe murderer or something? Charming ladies into a false sense of security before you take them out back and hack them to bits before serving them to the locals..." Elena trailed off, getting paranoid and freaking herself out.

"The name is Tyler Lockwood. And, you _don't_know if I'm an axe murderer or not. But, if I was, don't you think I would've taken you out back already?" He walked over to Elena pulling a rag out of his back pocket at the same time. "Now, the real question is who are you and what are you running from?"

"The names Elena," she responded shortly, jutting her chin out in an attempt to look more confident, "and I'm not _running_from anything. Why would I be running from something?"

Tyler laughed at her quietly, "Because honey, if you weren't running from something, you wouldn't be so set on making sure you have gas to get out of this town. Now come on, my truck is right over here," he started walking towards a large Chevy truck, painted candy apply red with inches of thick mud caked on.

"So, where exactly am I," Elena asked while following Tyler to his truck.

Tyler turned to Elena and smiled, "Right now you're in Nolensville, Tennessee. Safe to say you're not in Kansas anymore." He opened the passenger's side door to the truck, gesturing to Elena to get in.

She hopped into the truck with slight difficulty and shook her head to rid the shock of how far she had actually driven, "I'm in Tennessee," she asked incredulously, "How did I end up in _Tennessee?_"

"Well sweetheart, by getting in your car, turning on the ignition and stepping on the gas," Tyler responded sarcastically.

"Gee, thanks. I had no idea that's how the whole driving thing worked," Elena rolled her eyes while Tyler got into the truck and started it up.

*****…***…***…***…***…***…**

"Where're you from Elena," Tyler called over the dull roar of the truck speeding down the road.

"Mystic Falls, Virginia," she responded quietly, staring out the window.

"Is it a nice town?"

"Yeah, it's nice. Quiet, small. Everybody knows everybody. We've all gone to school with each other since Pre-K." Elena looked down, pulling at a stray thread on her shorts.

"Well then, you'll fit right in here," Tyler told her lightly.

Elena saw what looked like a small town grocery store and felt herself relax slightly, "Is this it?"

Tyler nodded slightly and pulled into the parking lot, "Yep, this is it." He cut the engine and turned to look at Elena, "I'll wait right here. On our way back I'll try to convince you to stay a few days," he smirked, winking at her.

"We'll see about me sticking around, Tyler. I don't know if I can do the small town life again. That's what I was running from." She opened the truck door and hopped out, ignoring all the curious glances she was getting. Focused on her task of getting to the ATM, she ignored the constant buzzing of her phone. She _knew_it was only a matter of time before people noticed she was gone and started looking for her. Looking at her missed calls list, the names on it didn't shock her.

_Matt._

_Matt._

_Matt._

_Caroline._

_Jeremy._

_Jeremy._

_Bonnie._

_Bonnie._

_Caroline._

_Matt. _

Not _once_did her parents call and see if she was okay. Not _once_did they show any type of concern for her. It didn't make her mad. It didn't piss her off. What it did make her was sad. Sad that her parents were so concerned with keeping up with the pretenses of their _perfect_family, that they wouldn't call her to see if she was okay.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Elena finally made it to the ATM machine and punched in all of her numbers, only to find that she had been locked out of her account. _So this is why they didn't call. They knew that they would be forcing me back home,_she thought to herself shaking her head and walking back to the truck. "Change of plans," she said quietly once she reached the passenger's side door. "Know any place I can stay for the night with no money?" She hung her head while she asked, utterly embarrassed at what her parents did to try and control her life.

Tyler got out of the truck and quickly walked around to Elena's side, "Yeah, I know a place you can stay," he told her softly, "For however long you need."

"Thank you," she whispered, "You don't have to do this for me." She looked up at him, tears burning the back of her eyes.

Tyler pulled Elena to him and hugged her tightly, "I get the feeling that I do;" he told her softly, "So, what do you say we get back in the truck and I'll take you to the little diner in town to get some food in you?"

Elena nodded, "That would be nice. Thank you." She pulled away from him and clambered back into the truck, thinking that maybe staying in this town wouldn't be so bad after all.

**A/N: So, here is the first chapter. Please review and let me know what you think. I'm working on my next chapter of IRY right now. Yes, the Salvatore brothers will show up in this story, so don't worry. Also, this chapter was not beta'd so all mistakes are mine. If you would like to beta, please let me know. Also, follow me on my blog for story banners, sneak peeks, etc. Xoxo**


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